Once again, thanks to everyone who reviewed! And, for those who wondered, I actually opened my science book and found the difference between mitosis and meiosis. I still get confused by it though…
The nightmares had returned. After Richard's attempted attack months ago, Kirsten had woken up suddenly most nights for the first week or so after dreaming of what could have happened. She thought that she had finally gotten over those nightmares, but the past few days had proved her wrong.
And that feeling she'd had last week that she was being watched-she'd had it a few times since then. More than a few, actually. It seemed like a regular occurrence. It would happen when she'd buy her lunch during the week, when she was leaving work-pretty much any time she was alone.
It had to be a form of paranoia. The feeling last week must have triggered those nightmares to return, resulting in more "feelings" that she was being watched. Once, Kirsten could have sworn that she'd heard footsteps behind her following her back to her car-they quickened when she'd walk faster, they'd stop a second after she did-but when she'd turned around; no one was there. Part of her was worried that she was going crazy, the other part was worried that she wasn't.
Kirsten didn't want to tell Sandy. She was sure it was all just in her mind. If she told Sandy, he'd worry and he was already concerned enough for the welfare of her and the baby (along with the boys).
Weeks passed; the nightmares continued and so did the feelings of being watched. Doubts began to form in Kirsten as to whether it was just all in the mind, but now was definitely not the time to tell Sandy. Not when it was the day of the baby's first ultrasound and she, Sandy and Seth (who had insisted on coming along) were gathered in the waiting room. She didn't want Seth to hear, and she didn't want to ruin the excitement of the day.
"So, when are you going to tell everyone?" Seth babbled excitedly. "I mean, you're in your twelfth week so the first trimester's pretty much over. And what about The Nana? Are you going to tell her first?"
"I think…your father's gonna tell her," Kirsten decided.
"She's going to want to fly out when the baby's born," Seth pointed out. "Maybe even before."
"I'm well aware of that fact," Kirsten groaned.
"Have you thought of any Jewish names?" Seth asked. "Amos? Hammurabi?"
"Wasn't Hammurabi a Babylonian king?" Kirsten asked.
"Kirsten Cohen?" a voice called out.
"Don't let The Nana hear you say that," Sandy warned Seth as they stood up and made their way to the room. "She'd have me hung, drawn and quartered."
Three faces stared up at a screen, above the bed Kirsten was lying on.
"Is it normal not to see anything yet?" Seth asked anxiously, staring up at the blank screen.
"Very normal," the nurse assured him. "We have to locate where the baby is and it's still quite small."
"About 2.2 inches long," Seth rattled off as Kirsten and Sandy hid smiles.
"You have a very well informed son," the nurse told them with a smile.
Everyone in the room went silent as a baby came into view. Seth hadn't expected it to be so mobile; it was squirming, kicking, moving it's arms and didn't seem to stay still. Sandy and Kirsten hadn't expected it to be so clear and distinct-you could easily make out where the legs, arms and head were unlike with Seth's ultrasounds. Another arm suddenly made its way onto the screen, pushing the baby.
"Oh my God," Seth said. "You guys, I think there's something wrong with the baby-it has three arms."
"Well informed in some matters, anyway," Sandy managed to get out.
"That would be because there are two babies-twins," the nurse told them, finding the other baby and bringing both into focus. "And it looks like they're identical-they're sharing the same placenta."
"Oh my God," Kirsten smiled in shock, holding Sandy's hand.
"And they look healthy?" Sandy asked.
"They seem to be," the nurse told him.
"They're not too small for their gestational size?" Seth asked. "They're not malnourished?"
"We haven't got to the measurements yet but I think they're fine," the nurse promised.
"Can you believe it, Sandy?" Kirsten exclaimed. "We're having twins!"
Sandy, Kirsten and Seth arrived home-looking shocked but happy-to find Ryan, Marissa and Summer waiting for them.
"I hope you don't mind Marissa and Summer coming over," Ryan apologised. "They wanted to see how it went."
"No, that's fine," Sandy assured them.
"So, how did it go?" Summer asked, walking over to Seth, giving him a hug and kiss.
"Well, you can see for yourself," Kirsten told Summer, walking over and handing her the pictures. Marissa and Ryan crowded around Summer as she looked at them.
"Oh my God!" Summer exclaimed, as Ryan and Marissa's faces filled with shock. "You're having twins?"
"I am," Kirsten said with a smile.
"Congratulations!" Marissa said, coming up and giving Kirsten a hug, followed by Summer and then Ryan.
"I wasn't expecting that," Ryan admitted.
"Neither were we," added Sandy, taking the pictures from Summer and setting them down on the hall table.
"They're both healthy and, from the looks of it, they're identical," Kirsten informed them.
"Oh my God, that is so cute," Summer declared. "You'll have to dress them in matching outfits-that would be so gorgeous!"
"No, Sum," Marissa disagreed. "They'd loose their identity. They'd think they were the same person or something."
"What, when they're, like, six months old?" Summer asked sceptically.
"I'm with Summer on this one," Seth sided. "If they're boys I can dress them as Spiderman and if they're girls, they can be Wonderwoman.They'd have twice the resilience of a normal super hero."
"Oh God, no, Seth," Ryan groaned.
Kirsten and Sandy headed to the kitchen, unnoticed, as the debate continued.
"Let's make a vow to never let Seth dress these babies up as comic book characters," Sandy suggested.
"Agreed," Kirsten said. "I think we'll have a battle keeping those four away from these babies."
"I think you're right, But," Sandy begun, stepping towards Kirsten and wrapping his arms around her waist, "at least it will give us time to ourselves."
"Oh really?" Kirsten giggled as Sandy kissed her.
"We'll have four baby sitters on hand," Sandy pointed out, in between kisses.
"Eugh, you guys, get a room," Seth complained, walking in with Marissa, Summer and Ryan in tow. "Do not make these babies endure what I've had to."
"I don't think they have much of a chance at that," Sandy teased, watching as Seth's face filled with disgust.
"Pool house," Seth decided. "Now."
It was like she was going around in a daze for the next few days. Twins, Kirsten would repeat before correcting herself: identical twins. They'd be a handful, but Kirsten and Sandy couldn't help but feel more and more excited towards the idea. They were both counting down the weeks until the next ultrasound (five) when they could find out the babies gender.
Kirsten and Sandy had started telling people after the ultrasound and were met with positive reactions. Despite her excitement, Kirsten couldn't help but feel slightly sad. It was times like these when she missed her parents most-they would have loved more grandchildren. Kirsten remembered the slight envy she'd felt towards Sandy as she had watched him call The Nana and tell her the news. She wanted nothing more than to be able to call her mother or father and tell them she was pregnant. She wanted to hear the excitement in their voices they'd had when she'd told them she was pregnant with Seth (even her father sounded excited, already planning for this child to one day take over his empire).
Well, at least one good thing had come of the past week, Kirsten reminded herself as she scoured the supermarket aisles one evening: her "morning" sickness and tiredness had definitely subsided.
Making her way to the check-out, Kirsten paused to look at something on display. As she was observing the item, a familiar prickling feeling hit her. Closing her eyes briefly, Kirsten's heart sank. She hadn't had that feeling since before her ultrasound-almost a week ago, and she'd hoped that it had gone for good.
Turning around and looking out the sliding doors, Kirsten was hit with a wave of nausea-but not the morning sickness kind. Visible and standing just outside the store, he held his eye contact with Kirsten for just a second too long. He'd been seen-he knew it. Kirsten watched in shock as the tall, balding, shabbily dressed silhouette slipped away.
Let me know what you think-please keep the reviews coming!